I had BBC and profractional laser at 125, to treat melasma. I'm a 48 year old light skinned Asian female.

On day 2 my half of my face presented horizontal raised grids while the other side shows pinpoint holes. I also am still reddish in melasma areas and skin is rought and itchy. My dermatologist has said she has not anyone heal with grids. Is this an anomaly? Is this permanent? I'm now on day 5 and show very little improvement. Please help

Doctor Answers 3

Recovery after BBL and Pro Fractional Therapy

July 27th, 2016

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Thank you for your question malouaugust. BBL and Pro Fractional work well for melasma, but multiple treatments may be required and maintenance treatments will be required. The BBL crystal has a rectangular shape and the size is 15 x 45 mm. Sometimes rectangles in this shape appear after a treatment. This should resolve on its own or with use of hydroquinone and retinoids. A grid-like pattern of holes is exactly what is produced after a Pro Fractional Therapy treatment and is completely normal. Healing can take up to two weeks depending on how aggressive the treatment was. Please follow up with your doctor for specific recommendations. Good luck!

Pro fractional treatment

May 3rd, 2016

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The benefit of pro fractional treatment is the excellent result with the minimal downtime to get that result. That said if you got an aggressive treatment it will still take some time to recover. Two days is still very early. I think you will see a rapid improvement over the next couple of days. If you have any concerns see your doctor so they can make sure all is fine and reassure you or treat any concerns they see.

Grids should go next few weeks

March 28th, 2016

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I have seen and treated many grids from Profractional over the years. This is an excellent laser, but the hole created by erbium laser fractional resurfacing is bigger than say, Fraxel. This is not a bad thing because the vast majority of patients settle.

I would wait a few weeks, it may take 3-4 months to settle. What is more important is that you have your melasma treated. (or it can rebound after laser)

ProFractional Laser Pictures

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